Head of College’s Office

The Head of College is the head and ranking officer of Berkeley College, responsible for the college’s intellectual, social, athletic, and artistic life. The college is administered through the Head of College’s Office, which is staffed by an operations manager, senior administrative assistant, and student aides. The Head of College works closely with the Dean, Resident Fellows, the Dining Hall Manager, and other staff to build the best possible community for our students.

Head of College David A.D. Evans    

David A.D. Evans is a member of the faculty of the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences.  Professor Evans focuses his research on plate tectonics, the past motions of continents across Earth’s surface.  He is director of the Yale Paleomagnetism Laboratory, which traces this movement by measuring fossil magnetism preserved in ancient rocks from around the world.

His work has elucidated the configurations of vanished supercontinents named Pangea, Rodinia, and Nuna (each separated by about 600 million years); characterized the geometry of Earth’s ancient magnetic field; and provided evidence for globally engulfing “Snowball Earth” ice ages that occurred deep in Earth’s history, around the time when animals were first evolving.  He earned his Ph.D. at the California Institute of Technology and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Western Australia before joining the Yale faculty in 2002.  He especially enjoys sharing his knowledge of the world’s geology, climate, and natural resources with undergraduate students in his introductory-level courses at Yale.

Professor Evans grew up in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and graduated from Yale College (where he was a resident of Berkeley) in 1992.  His is a family of Berkeleyites: his father was BK’62 and his sister was BK’89.  Aside from cheering on, often fruitlessly, his favorite professional sports teams (the Green Bay Packers and Milwaukee Bucks), Head Evans’s main extracurricular passion is music, regularly playing contrabass in the Berkeley College Orchestra and occasionally slapping a bass guitar or reciting old-school hip-hop lyrics.

The Associate Head of Berkeley College, Lely Dai Evans, is a language educator and educational consultant.  Raised in Taiwan, Lely received her B.A. at Occidental College and a master’s of music in performance practice from The University of Western Australia.  Most recently, Lely has co-founded New Haven Chinese Cultural Cooperative (NHCCC), in which she performs the guzheng (a 21-string acient zither).  Lely also loves cooking and brings many aspects of food preparation, as well as music, into her teaching repertoire.

Sarah Layedra, Assistant Director of Operations, Berkeley College

Sarah Layedra joined Berkeley College in June 2017 and is the Assistant Director of Operations, Berkeley College.  With direction from Head of College David Evans, Sarah is responsible for managing the financial and administrative operations of Berkeley. This includes overseeing the college’s finances, events, and facilities. She is also the coordinator of the Paul Mellon Fellowship. In addition, Sarah oversees special projects, and serves as liaison between the college and the Yale College Business Office. This deceptive description fails to explain how truly vital Sarah is in maintaining the collegiate environment.  She manages every facet of college life including the oversight of College funds, fellowships and events. Because of Sarah’s involvement in many aspects of Berkeley College life, she will often be a student’s first recourse for questions about fellowships and college life. At most every event, you will find her working behind the scenes with Naomi DiGioia and the College Aides to ensure its success.

Sarah’s favorite free time activity is spending time with her husband Jose and sons, Andrés and Mateo.

Sarah is in F20 and can be reached by e-mail at sarah.layedra@yale.edu or at (203) 436-2899 on weekdays. 

Naomi DiGioia, Senior Administrative Assistant II, Berkeley College Head’s Office

Jolanta Skonieczna, Residential College Service Assistant II, Berkeley College

Jolanta Skonieczna joined Berkeley College in February 1996 as the Swensen House Service Assistant II.  She is  always ready to serve students and faculty.  Jolanta came to the USA from Poland.  In her free time she is a typical “soccer mom” and juggles her time between her three sons’ soccer games.  Most of all she enjoys spending time with her husband and sons.

College Aides

Berkeley College Aides are stewards and ambassadors of the Berkeley College Community. Our College Aides are sophomores, juniors, and seniors who have been hired by the Head of College, Sarah, and Naomi, to assist in running the residential college. They help organize the many events sponsored by the Head of College’s office, from the First-year move-in and picnic at the beginning of the year to the Berkeley Commencement in May. Each is responsible for specific common areas of the College, including the Berkeley Buttery, student kitchen, music room, wellness room (the Roost) and the library. They can often be found in the Head of College’s Office helping make life slightly less stressful for Berkeleyites. During the academic year, contact them directly via email at bkcollegeaides@gmail.com, or drop by the Head of College Office during business hours (9am-5pm weekdays).  To learn more about our amazing aides see their profiles below.

The 2024-2025 Berkeley College Aides Applications open in January.   

College’s Aides for 2024-2025

Mina Aral ‘26   I’m an international student from Turkey. I grew up in Istanbul. I’m doing Directed Studies, taking Computer Science classes alongside. Although I am undecided for now, I’m planning on majoring in CS. I love films, books, and painting. You can find me wandering around campus and appreciating the beautiful architecture any time of the day, especially during sunset. Most Thursday nights, I can also be found struggling to finish a DS paper in the Berkeley common room.
Bea Fylkner  ‘2 Bea is a sophomore pursuing a double major in Political Science and Global Affairs. She grew up in Stockholm, Sweden, but has also lived in Italy, Thailand, and New Jersey (which she considers a very fine state). Outside of class, she spends her time dancing with the Modern Dance Company, cooking with Y-Popup, and doing research about democratic innovations. She feels lucky to call Berkeley her home and is very excited to be an aide!
Thembi Gausi ‘25   Thembi Gausi (she/her) is a Mechanical Engineering major interested in African Education. She was born in Blantyre, Malawi and was raised in Harare, Zimbabwe. At Yale, she has served as the Co-vice President of the Yale African Students Association and not only works as a BKeautiful Berkeley Aid but also as a BK Dining Hall student manager.  During her summers she has taught as a YYGS and YYAS (Yale Young Global/African Scholars) Instructor and has taken a gap semester to work on an independent project. This project worked with high schools and their students to increase access to and awareness about tertiary education opportunities. Outside academia, Thembi is an avid lover of sports, supporting the Arsenal and loves to join and watch pick-up games. She is also a lover of music, especially African music, and she cannot wait to enjoy this upcoming academic year with the class of 2027 and the rest of Yale!
Gia George-Burgher ‘26   Gia is a prospective double major in Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies and Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from the (Boogie Down) Bronx in New York City. She is a member of Yale’s Premier Latin Dance Team Sabrosura and the Dramat. When she’s not in class or on stage, Gia loves to hang out in the buttery or the Roost and chit chat with Damaris in the office.
Doris Hong ‘26   Doris is a Chemical Engineering major interested in environmental sustainability from NYC. She currently does PFAS remediation research at the Fortner Lab. When she’s not spending her time crocheting and listen to music, she enjoys going to local cafes to grab an iced vanilla chai with almond milk (her all-time favorite drink). She’s super excited to be a BK Aide!
Jessica Le ‘25 My name is Jessica Le and I am studying Cognitive Science and Computer Science. I am also a Berkeley Thunderfloq coordinator and love our bk community. In my spare time I love to mountain bike, dance, and hikes.
Goeun Lee ‘25 Goeun studies Psychology and HSHM at Yale, with interests in pediatric clinical psychology and global health. She is from Los Angeles, CA and she loves Berkeley’s Roost & BK special from the buttery.
Abigail Lopez Freire ‘26 Abi is a prospective Molecular, Cellular, & Developmental Bio major from Maryland and the Junior Chief Aide! She enjoys taking long walks around campus, taking photos of people and places on rolls of film, exploring the many Yale libraries, and making fun pieces of jewelry. She’s so excited to be a college aide at the best residential college: Berkeley! Around Berkeley, you’ll find her in Laz library, in the art gallery, in the buttery with friends, or in BK’s courtyards soaking up the sun.
Treyton Martin ‘25 Treyton is the Senior Chief Aide and a Berkeley College FROCO. He is from a small town in Indiana and plans to major in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. He is also involved with the Yale Policy Institute, and can’t wait to serve as Co-Chief of Berkeley. In Berkeley, he can be found in the buttery, Mendenhall room, or the Roost.
Sabrina Mo ‘27 I was born and raised in Koreatown, Los Angeles, and I’m a HSHM (History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health) major with an interest in Urban Studies. Because I grew up in Koreatown my entire life, I’ve always been surrounded by amazing food and cafes, so I became a foodie (unsurprising). I brought that same love for food to New Haven, and I’ve been trying out a variety of local restaurants and have even been scouting out the best Korean food for when I’m missing home. (I’d love food recs if anyone has any!) When I’m not grinding out the assignments I’ve procrastinated on, you can find me sleeping in my (super duper cozy) bed, snacking on copious (cavity-inducing) amounts of sugar, taking strolls around campus with friends (with snack in hand), or online shopping and adding too many things into my cart (that I’ll never buy).
Mimi Papathanasopoulos ‘26 Mimi is a psychology major with a passion for law and criminal justice reform. In addition to Berkeley College, she calls home an organic vegetable farm in Scio, Oregon. On campus, she is involved with the Yale College Council, Yale Undergraduate Prison Project, and psychology research. She loves exploring New Haven restaurants, spending time outdoors in the sunshine, and making friends.
Harsh Patel ‘27   Harsh was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois and has lived there his whole life. He is planning on majoring in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology on the Pre-Med track. Currently, he’s involved with Community Health Educators and is a volunteer at the HAVEN Free Clinic and the Yale New Haven Hospital. He loves going on long walks or drives with friends and watching new shows (his favorite show of all time being Schitt’s Creek). In Berkeley you’ll probably find him in the Roost or the BK buttery with friends.
Jayden Rivera ‘26 Jayden is a prospective Chemistry major and is a New Haven native. When in Berkeley, he can be spotted studying in Mendenhall room or The Barn. He enjoys exploring restaurants outside of the Yale community and taking walks to Edgerton Park.
Kevin Seo ‘26 Kevin is a prospective Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and Economics double major. He was raised in Southern Maryland and enjoys swimming with friends, sleeping, and spending money on stuff he does not need. He can be found in Lower Laz, playing the piano in the Berkeley common room, or studying at the Haas Arts library at the School of Architecture.
Hailley Siswanto ‘27 Hailley is a prospective Computer Science and Economics major from Tampa, Florida. Outside of the classroom, she is also a FOOT Leader, artist, traveler, gym lover, and active Pinterest user.  You can find her traipsing around the Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library contemplating pursuing a major in Architecture and building a sunlit home in the countryside. If not there, she is likely in PWG, running on the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, or reading in Atticus Cafe.
Nicolas Vela ‘27 Hi, I am Nicholas Vela, a first-year student studying Ethnicity, Race, and Migration. With Mexican roots, I’m deeply drawn to music, food adventures, and thrifting. As a self-proclaimed DJ, I mix tracks spanning from rap to reggaeton. I thrive on conversations and laughter, so you can count on me if you need anyone to talk to. I am excited to organize events and connect with fellow students, contributing to the already amazing Berkeley College Community! You can probably find me in lower Laz or playing pool while I wait for the buttery to open.
Andrew Wang ‘25 Andrew Wang is in the class of 2025, studying Economics. He grew up in Beijing, but went to high school in Atlanta. He plays trumpet in the YSO.